A Unique STEM Engineering Project- Crossing a Chasm
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Do your students know what a chasm is? This STEM Challenge is perfect for learning new things and solving a unique dilemma with engineering skills!
Rescue me! Are you humming a song after reading those two words? I always do!
My students love a good rescue challenge, and this one started with a book I read. It was an adult book, which I will link at the end, but it gave me an idea for a new STEM challenge.
We had already tried rescues that involved cranking systems to lift someone from a canyon. This time, I wanted something different.
What if a team was stranded across a deep canyon and needed supplies? How could students get those supplies safely across?
Aha! Crossing a Chasm was born!
The Set-Up for Crossing a Chasm
Before students ever get started on this challenge you need a canyon for their rescue team to use. I set up two lab stools and tied a fishing line to the top legs. We stretched the line so that the stools were about 3 feet apart. The idea is that a team of hikers has gotten separated and one part of the team is across a canyon and they need water and food. The other team needs to send supplies across on a line that stretches from one side to the other. When I described this the students had many questions and I made up the answers on the spot. (I should be an actress.)
QUESTIONS:
- How did they get separated? (Half the team was walking across a swinging bridge and just as they got to the other side the bridge came apart. So, now they are stranded.)
- Can’t they walk back? (No, the cliffside they are on is too steep. They are waiting on rescuers.)
- Why don’t they have food and water? (They were carrying other supplies and now they need water.)
- How are we going to get the water to them? (On a rope. We will hang the food and water carrier to the rope and the wind will blow it across.)
- Where did the rope come from? (It’s part of the bridge. We can try using it for a water carrier but not for a heavy human.)
- Why are we using the wind? (Because it is a windy day and that is the only way to get the carrier across on the rope.)
We need a cargo carrier to cross the chasm!
I originally planned to have students make the container for the crossing. I decided this event was challenging enough and we just used a 3-ounce cup. Students needed to determine how to attach the cup to the line so that it could easily slide across- powered by the wind.
Our wind came from a fan. When a team was ready to test their container they placed it on the line and I turned on the fan. This took some practice. The fan had to be swiveled so that the container received as much wind power as possible.
The Wind Catcher became an important part!
This is where the challenge became a little tricky. In the photos below you can see the team started out with a tiny “sail”. The container barely moved.
After trying for a few minutes the team took their device back to their worktable and created a larger sail. They also changed the location of the sail on the cup. This gave the wind a greater chance of catching on that pink sail and moving the container.
Time to Test the Device
As soon as a team had a device ready we tested it! As the device stalled on the line we talked through possible reasons it was not moving.
The size of the sail and its placement were the biggest factors in the carrier moving along.
Above, you can see (on the left- the team had a sail above and below the cup. In the second photo, the sail on the top is larger. They folded the ends of the sail to help catch the wind.
This challenge has a lot of trial and error. Some carriers flew immediately. Some never flew at all. Some zipped across and stalled within inches of the other side. One carrier flew across without hesitation and reached the other side in 7 seconds.
Improving the Devices
We found ourselves making constant on-the-spot changes to the sails and the fan.
Students found some clever ways to just keep adding onto their original sail. Check out the one in the photo below!
This is an easy challenge to prep for. Students use mostly paper. I did have a small fan and fishing line. You could use plastic cord in lieu of fishing line. String or yarn will not work- the carrier will drag on the course string.
What fun! Despite the silly premise of this challenge, it was very engaging. Every team wanted to get across that chasm. Bonus- we learned how to say a new word!
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